Macbeth to make Minster plea

Macbeth Speaks will be staged at The Minster in Church Street on July 16.

Far from being a murdering little kinglet, he was elected leader of a confederation that spread as far south as Greater Manchester

Preston-born actor and director Dean Taylor has picked up arguably The Bard’s finest tragedy and runs with it – all the way to the present day.

Returning to Earth in 2015 Macbeth says the Bard got him all wrong, and sets out to put the record straight.

“Far from being a murdering little kinglet, he was elected leader of a confederation that spread as far south as Greater Manchester,” says Dean.

“History testifies to him as a good man but the Shakespearean myth tells an altogether different tale.”

“The play invites you to decide. Which do you believe, the Shakespearean tradition or Macbeth’s?”

Written by Scots-born playwright John Cargill Thompson, Macbeth Speaks was adapted by Dean himself.

“It was bequeathed by my friend Gordon Rowe, the Chorley- based actor. Gordon died of cancer in 2007, unable to perform the play which had been written for him.

“He passed it on to me by way of Dorothy, his wife.”

Dean is delighted to be staging the production at The Minster. He said: “I saw Murder In A Cathedral there years ago. The architecture, the history, the atmosphere, the sanctuary – the ideal place for Macbeth to make his uncontaminated plea.”

Macbeth Speaks is at Preston Minster on Thursday July 16 from 7pm. Tickets £10, to book or for other information call 01772 466 256.